Im looking for something with color, about 4 feet tall, preferably fast growing, that will be ok in full, direct, afternoon sun.

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soooo... you want a unicorn.. is shrub form.. eh??? ...lol

big city name plz...

anything that grows FAST to 4 feet.. is not going to magically stop at 4 feet ... as with any shrub.. you will eventually end up pruning to maintain the height you want... unless you find something that grows one inch per year.. but then.. odds are you will be dead by the time it hits your 4 foot goal..

ALL TRANSPLANTS .. will need watering for a year or 3 whole they get established.. regardless of sun.. BUT ... once established.. they should not need a lot of water.. unless it is blindingly hot.. where ever you are...

im not sure i would not remove the 2 trees left.. as they were clearly planted about 10 feet too close to the house ...

which also makes me wonder how deep that foundation bed is.. its not very wide at all and you are going to have a hard time growing plants the the height the tall house requires.. when the footprint is so small.. and that is most likely why you had to rip out all the old stuff.. am i close...

i would probably move out into the lawn.. on the other side of the walkway.. and plant shrub and trees out there.. softening the view form the street with larger stuff. and use the 4 to 6 foot wide bed of annuals and perennials.. which that space it highly suited for ...

remember.. foundation plantings are planted to hide the fecundation.. not on the foundation.. and if only architects and sidewallk guys understood this.. they would stop making these stupid shallow beds in front of very tall houses ... and for a shiny penny i will tell you how i really feel.. lol

good luck

ken

It does also depend on whether you will be able to water well every year or just scrape by until established.
It also depends on whether you’re trying for a uniform hedge look it some variation, but as Ken says , it can be hard to hit a sweet spot for heiyin s narrow bed.

Smaller shrubs for hot sun include dwarf nandinas- I’ve had larger varieties spread by runners but not dwarfs. Some are invasive so check. Dwarf junipers- not Blue Rug but maybe Nana & some others. These are evergreens of course. Really dwarf crape myrtles like Pokomoke & similar, though eventually they get wider so need 3-4 ft from house.
Dwarf hydrangeas lije Little Lime take a fair amount of sun but only with water and may not take full Western exposure.
Then there would be perennials like daylilies and others.
There are some small Hollie’s like Yaupons that take brutal sun.

You may need local landscape help but I have had to beware, some I’ve worked with were not concerned about how big things would get in 5 years- just wanted to plant 3-5 or more gal things that looked good to start. I would not have known had I not read about and seen the varieties IRL elsewhere also.

So you should also drive around your area for older homes and see if can find similar exposures & what’s there.

A lot depends on whether or not you have deer.

The Viburnum is evergreen so for variety you could add deciduous like Spirea or Weigela if they are suited to your area. Do you know if you have acid soil?

I thought about spirea - i had some at our last house that was west facing and they did well! I definetly want to add some, but I was worried they would be too small for the back of the bed - they ones i were seeing topped out at about 3 feet. I will check into Weigela, i dont know much about those. And HU - I just looked into your suggestions and the dwarf Crepe myrtle looks wonderful!

Soil ph is between 6-7, depending on the spot (if my reader is correct), its not ideal soil - more clay-like. Im good with staying on top of the water, and I know a lot of things will be a gamble in this spot, i was just hoping for some suggestions that would give a fighting chance at not frying in Southern summer sun. And deer are not present in our neighborhood.

The bed itself in front of the garage is 11’ deep, the picture is a bit deceiving.

Thank you all for your suggestions :)

I had some wine and roses weigela in front of my south facing house. All day sun. They did well. I cut them down to about 3' every year. Otherwise, they would have likely grown to 5'. I think there are some dwarf cultivars. They have pink blooms in May that last a couple of weeks. And brown leaves in full sun. Plus, the deer left them alone. Even though deer aren't an issue.

Another option are azaleas. There are lots of cultivars that stay under 4'. I think they prefer some shade, but they seem to do OK in afternoon sun.

Gardenia (there are multiple sizes available), Loropetalum (multiple varieties), Varigated False Holly, Butterfly Bushes are some options. We have one camellia next to the house which gets blasted with hot summer sun and yet is growing amazingly. It does get plenty of water from the roof runoff. (Central NC)

Here are some ideas using the viburnum you mention:

Wow Doug! Its so helpful to have a visual, thats beautiful and would definelty work, thank you! And what are those little pinkish shrubs in the front there? love the idea of adding large pots by the stairs as well.

Jean, so interesting you have rhat Camellia doing so well. Id love to have Camillia or garneria in the front, but i keep reading they need afternoon shade. maybe its worth a gamble to throw in one in the design to see how it performs!

Dave, thank you for your suggestions. i looked up Indian Hawthorn as Id never heard of it (im pretty new to the plant world :) ) and like the looks of it and Loropetulum - those look like soild possibilities. And yes, Im open to any color including shades of foliage. We are in the northern part of Greenville, SC.

What a beautiful home! I find that Nandina, Euonymus, and David's Viburnum all do well on the west facing side of my home. The euonymus hold up best, even to neglect and take well to pruning to maintain a tidy shape. The David's viburnum burned a bit the first couple years but looks great after established. I have Spring bouquet viburnum as well but it hasn't recovered as well from burns. The Nandinas are easy to care for as well. Roses are another option. It would be so pretty to include peonies with evergreen shrubs.